It wasn't too long ago the Chicopee native was fast, unmarried and happy as Hanechak reigned as one of the top local runners in the region for nearly 20 years.

The five-time Walter Childs Memorial Race of Champions Marathon winner has no regrets, but he knows he could have been faster: the temptation to win always outweighed training at a high level.

Staff photo by DON TREEGERChicopee's Dave Hanechak is holding on to his memories

Hanechak loved to race, and loved to win. He did both often.

"I used to love racing," the 43-year-old said. "Training was OK. I could deal with the training, but I used to love racing. I didn't gear for races, sit down and say, 'Well, I'm going to take three months and just train for this one race'. I wanted to race every weekend, twice a week, or three times a week. Sometimes I'd race twice in one day.

"I could have had faster times if I geared for races, but I preferred to run more races. Quantity over quality.

Hanechak won a pair of Western Massachusetts Division II track & field titles in the 2 mile at Chicopee High, qualified for the NCAA Division III championship meet in cross country and track at Westfield State College, and enjoyed some great performances in Nebraska while a member of the U.S. Air Force before permanently moving back to the area in the mid-late 1980s.

While Hanechak was at his peak, in the 1980s and early 1990s, the region was rich in running talent: Steve Snover, Brent Coon, Randy Thomas, Andy Palmer, Steve O'Connell, Ken Kaczenski, Paul Beaulieu, Roland Cormier, Russ Holt, Gary Crowley and Mark Gingras were some of the great local talents.

"There were so many guys who could run 25:30 for a 5-miler or 32 minutes for a 10K," he said.

Hanechak recalled running the St. Patrick's Road Race in Holyoke one year, when he ran a 38:40 for the then 7.6-mile race.

"That equates to a 31:30 10K. I came in 28th place," he said. "That time would come in third, fourth or fifth place now, and more people are running now. The quality of runners back then was incredible."

And in terms of winning, Hanechak was incredible, too. Among his many highlights was winning the 26.2-miler in Holyoke four straight seasons (1994-97), including a course-record time of 2:29:48 in 1995.

His success at Holyoke prompted him to aim for a high goal.

"I did really try in the mid-90s. I wanted to qualify for the Olympic Trials in the marathon," he said. "For a couple years I really tried, but I never got there."

One thing Hanechak never did was take running, or himself, too seriously. He found racing fun, and he always wanted more.

"I used to like pushing myself and racing, but I never took the training seriously," he said. "I just loved to race, and I didn't want to make it not fun training for one race three months down the road. If I did that and I didn't have a good race, it would have made things miserable."

When Hanechak married in 1998, he cut back on his running. The following year, with the birth of his first of two children, he scaled back even more. He last raced in 2001. He said he was in decent shape three or four years ago, but never took to a starting line. The only running he does now is when he runs down the sidewalk with his daughter after she gets off the bus.

Hanechak works as a temporary worker at Plastipak Pack Packaging, Inc., in East Longmeadow, where he packages plastic bottles. He works three 12-hour shifts one week, followed by four 12-hour shifts the following week. He reports to work at 6:45 p.m. and leaves at 7:15 a.m. Two weeks ago, Hanechak worked 68 hours in a seven-day stretch.

"It's a running-around-all-night job. It's not a sitting-on-your-butt job," he said.

"I don't sleep too much, which makes it near impossible to get in shape. When the kids are in school I get five hours sometimes, and then I try to take a little nap when they come home from school after I get them settled."

Because he's on his feet and constantly moving, Hanechak thinks he's still in pretty good shape. He'd like to pick up running again, where he feels he can be competitive in his age group.

"I won't get back to where I was, but comparatively, for a 47-year-old, I'd be running as well as I did as a 27-year-old," said Hanechak, who at 180 pounds is 50 pounds heavier than his previous race weight. "There are plenty of people who have done that. Steve Snover didn't race for several years, and came back as a 42- or 43-year-old, and he was fast again.

"I'm going to try to start running four days a week. If I can do that, I think I can drop the weight, and maybe I can get back down to under 35 minutes for a 10K, or at least a 36. My job keeps me active, and that's important."

And what was once important to Hanechak was racing and winning - the more, the better.

"Mostly, I enjoyed racing," he said. "I don't have any super highlights that I probably would have had if I geared for races, but I had a lot of good races. It was fun winning, too. Maybe I'd race seven times in eight weeks and win five of them, and that was fun. I got to win five races, where maybe if I geared for one race over those eight weeks I would have run a faster time, but that wouldn't have been as much fun."

"He was exceptional. He's one of the best distance runners to come out
of Western Mass." -Pete Stasz, Greater Springfield Harriers president

"What made him good was his perseverance. He would not yield." -Ernie Goff, former track coach, Chicopee High and Westfield State

"When I first met him he was in high school, but he was doing some
local road races. He didn't really understanding pacing yet and he'd run
too fast, stop and walk, and then run, and stop and walk, and then run,
and he'd still beat you anyway." -Gary Crowley, former local running great 